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 Improving
Educational
Gender Equality
In Religious
Societies
H u m a n R i g h t s a n d Mo d e r n i z a t i o n
P r e -Ara b S p r i n g

SUM A I A A . A L -KOHL A NI
Improving Educational Gender Equality in
Religious Societies
 Sumaia A. Al-Kohlani

Improving
Educational Gender
Equality in Religious
Societies
Human Rights and Modernization Pre-Arab Spring
Sumaia A. Al-Kohlani
United Arab Emirates University (UAEU)
Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

ISBN 978-3-319-70535-4    ISBN 978-3-319-70536-1 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70536-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017962331

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
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The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
I dedicate this book to all Yemeni women, girls, and children, who bear most
of the consequences of political instability. I also dedicate it to Yemeni
teachers, who did not give up their duties even though they have not received
their salary for months.
 Preface

The idea for this book came to me in 2010, when Turkey was considered
a good example of a successful secular Muslim country. This positive per-
ception about Turkey made me wonder if females’ rights there are far bet-
ter than in Iran and Saudi Arabia when it comes to the basic right to
education and joining the labor force. When females’ rights in Iran are
compared to females’ rights in Turkey, the dress code stands out as the
most obvious difference. However, I tried to avoid the argument over the
dress code for women and girls, because forcing them to wear a hijab, as
is the case in Iran, or to remove it, as was the case in Turkey before 2010,
are, in my opinion, against females’ right to choose. What made this topic
more interesting was the Arab Spring in 2011 and the demand for sub-
stantial change in the political system in several countries.
The demand for a different political system comes from the failure of
several previous regimes to meet the economic and political demands of
the new generation. Some of those political movements demanded more
a religious political system, claiming that Islam is the solution, while oth-
ers were looking for a more liberal political system, arguing that the suc-
cess of Turkey was just an extension of its success in implementing a secular
political system. However, even today, several Muslim countries are still
embroiled in debates over whether a more religious or less religious politi-
cal system is better for the new, young governments that are struggling to
rise. Muslim countries that managed to avoid the Arab Spring, such as
Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Thailand, are also debating whether they should
liberalize their constitutions, laws, and regulations to avoid future political
chaos. Therefore, a key element in deciding which would be the more

vii
viii PREFACE

beneficial—a more religious or a less religious political system—is the

effect on gender equality, both for human rights and for economic devel-
opment reasons.
This book intends to respond to the “religious theory” that associates
certain religions with gender inequality, and to the “modernization the-
ory” that downplays the role of religion in gender inequity and associates
gender inequality with socioeconomic factors. This book tests both theo-
ries and determines which is more applicable, and how the results could
help policy-makers. It aims to answer several questions with regard to this
subject. For example, would the choice of a more religiously liberal con-
stitution mean better gender equality in education? Also, would the domi-
nance of a religiously conservative constitution result in weak gender
equality in education? Does modernization change the impact of a reli-
giously conservative constitution on gender equality in education?
This book contributes to the ongoing debate over what impact Islam
has on gender equality in education. It studies the impact of religious
constitutions and several modernization factors, such as urbanization, fer-
tility, oil, and income, on educational gender equality in 55 Muslim and
non-Muslim countries.
The book is an interdisciplinary study drawn from the fields of world
politics, public policy in education, and political religion. Combining
these disciplines also involves considerable engagement with the quantita-
tive and qualitative methods of comparative politics, religion, and educa-
tion. As such, this work exists in a unique space in the broader political,
religious, and educational literatures.
As I write, my hope is that this book will be useful complementary
reading for courses that discuss religion, politics, and education; Islam and
education; the impact of secularism and religious conservativism on edu-
cational gender equality; and differences in educational gender equality
between Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Also, due to the Arab Spring
and other events that raise the profile and importance of this topic, the
book could be of interest to the general public as well.

Al Ain, United Arab Emirates Sumaia A. Al-Kohlani

 Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to all those who supported me during

the time I was writing this book. In particular, I would like to thank my
family and husband for taking a special interest in following my progress
and providing all the support and comfort I needed to finish the book.
Thanks to Professor Heather Campbell for her advice and encourage-
ment, and for all the support I have received from her since the day we
met. Also, I am thankful to Dr. Emily Saunders for her interest in the book
and her valuable suggestions. I am also thankful to the publisher and edi-
torial assistant, who were supportive, patient, and helpful. I ask for for-
giveness from my husband, from whom I was taken away during this
experience, and from those whose names I have failed to mention.

ix
 Contents

1 Introduction   1
Gender Equality Before the Arab Spring   8
Historical Background  10
Western Feminist Theories  12
Religious Feminist Theories  16
Education and Gender Equality  30
Female Education and Economy  32
Conclusion  34
Outline of the Book  35
References  38

2 Religious Theory vs. Modernization Theory  43

Religious Theory  43
Modernization Theory  54
Conclusion  60
References  63

3 Research Design and Methodology  67

Research Questions  71
First Hypotheses  71
Alternative Hypotheses  72
Data  73
Dependent Variable  73

xi
xii CONTENTS

Key Independent Variables  75

Control Variables  80
Interaction Variables  82
The Statistical Models  83
Expectations  84
Method  85
Conclusion  86
References  87

4 Empirical Testing and Analysis of Data  89

Empirical Testing and Analysis for Muslim and Non-­Muslim
Countries  90
Empirical Testing and Analysis for Muslim Countries 103
Empirical Testing and Analysis for Non-Muslim Countries 111
Analysis of the Results 114
Conclusion 119
References 122

5 Case Study 123
Turkey’s Religious History 125
Iran’s Religious History 129
Females’ Education and Labor Force Participation 134
Females’ Education in Turkey 135
Females’ Education in Iran 136
Data Description 138
Empirical Testing 138
Results for Education Enrollment 138
Results for Labor-Force Participation 144
Analysis of the Data 148
Conclusion 150
References 153

6 Conclusion and Policy Implications 155

Policy Recommendations 159
Future Studies 161
References 162
 CONTENTS
   xiii

Appendix A 163

Appendix B 173

Index 179
 List of Figures

Fig. 3.1 Comparison between the educational dataset in Barro and Lee’s
and World Bank datasets 75
Fig. 4.1 Marginal effect for the interactive terms between Muslim
countries and Constitution and Urbanization 101
Fig. 4.2 The marginal effect of the different levels of religious
constitutions in Muslim countries 109
Fig. 4.3 Total female-to-male school enrollment for Muslim and
non-Muslim countries (2010) 118
Fig. 4.4 Marginal effect for the interactive terms between Muslim
countries and Constitution, Urbanization, and Fertility rate 120
Fig. 5.1 Female-to-male total school enrollment in Iran and Turkey
(1960–2010)139
Fig. 5.2 Female-to-male educational school enrollment, 1960–2010 142
Fig. 5.3 Ratio of female-to-male labor-force participation (%), 1990–
2010145
Fig. 5.4 Labor force by level of educational attainment (distribution; by
sex and country) 146
Fig. A.1 Marginal effect of the different levels of religious constitutions
in non-­Muslim countries 167
Fig. A.2 Marginal effect of the different levels of religious constitutions
in Muslim and non-Muslim countries 168
Fig. A.3 Marginal effect of the different levels of religious constitutions
in Muslim and non-Muslim countries with fertility 170
Fig. B.1 Female-to-male total school enrollment for the first 16
countries over 50 years 173
Fig. B.2 Female-to-male total school enrollment for the second 16
countries over 50 years 174

xv
xvi LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. B.3 Female-to-male total school enrollment for 12 countries over

50 years 174
Fig. B.4 Female-to-male total school enrollment for the last 11 countries
over 50 years 175
 List of Tables

Table 3.1 The list of countries in my sample 69

Table 3.2 Constitution coding and the variables used for coding 76
Table 3.3 This study’s constitutional coding, with Fox’s variables 77
Table 3.4 The frequency of the constitutional religious levels per year
from 1960 to 2010 79
Table 3.5 Descriptive data for the main variables 82
Table 3.6 Variables and expected results 83
Table 4.1 Muslim/non-Muslim basic regression models 91
Table 4.2 Frequency for the levels of religious conservativeness 95
Table 4.3 Muslim/non-Muslim regression models with different
constitutional religious levels 98
Table 4.4 Muslim/non-Muslim regression models with interaction
terms99
Table 4.5 Only Muslim countries with the combined model and the
model with different levels of religious conservativeness 105
Table 4.6 Variables used in the models, but subsequently deleted 106
Table 4.7 Only non-Muslim countries with the combined model and the
model with different levels of conservativeness 113
Table 5.1 The differences between Iran and Turkey in different religious
aspects related to women’s rights 133
Table 5.2 Iran and Turkey regression models with religious and
modernization variables 141
Table A.1 Marginal effect for Muslim × Constitution 164
Table A.2 Marginal effect for Muslim × Urbanization 165
Table A.3 Interaction terms between the different levels of Muslim
conservativeness with Urbanization 165

xvii
xviii LIST OF TABLES

Table A.4 The interaction terms between the different levels of non-
Muslim conservativeness with urbanization 166
Table A.5 Muslim/non-Muslim basic regression models 168
Table A.6 Muslim/non-Muslim regression models with Muslim and
religiously conservative countries 169
Table A.7 Iran and Turkey regression models for the three educational
levels170
Table B.1 Detailed information on inclusion and exclusion of countries 175
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

In 2011, several countries, most of them Muslim, experienced political

revolutions. Citizens took to the streets to express their dissatisfaction
with the performance of their political regimes and their standard of liv-
ing. Female attendance at these events was surprisingly high and brought
some hope to the advocates of women’s political rights. Women’s role in
the Arab Spring was significant, especially in Yemen, Tunisia, and Egypt.
Thousands of women poured onto the streets to support the demonstra-
tions, delivering speeches, food for protests, and singing songs. They
treated and nursed the injured in makeshift hospitals, ambulances, and
even in their homes when people were too afraid to go to the hospital.1
Women put themselves at great risk when Tunisian police tried to repress
the revolution by using security thugs to beat protesters. Women were also
detained and some disappeared in Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain. For exam-
ple, in Bahrain in 2011, at least nine doctors and four nurses were seized
by the authorities and received sentences of five to fifteen years in prison.2
Harassment and even rape by police, militants, and protesters occurred
many times during protests in several countries. For instance, in Tunisia,
in the central town of Kasserine, some women were raped by police after
demonstrations. In Egypt, CBS reporter Lara Logan was surrounded by
more than 200 people in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and sexually assaulted. A
Libyan woman named Iman Al-Obeidi told journalists that she had been
raped by Al Gaddafi’s militia.3

© The Author(s) 2018 1

S. A. Al-Kohlani, Improving Educational Gender Equality in Religious
Societies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70536-1_1
2 S. A. AL-KOHLANI

The women who participated in demonstrations did not have anything

in common except their demand for more rights and a better life. They
were hoping to have their demands met after the establishment of new
regimes. Faizah Sulimani, 29, one of the protesters in Yemen, stated that
women’s “demands are somehow similar to men, starting with freedom,
equal citizenship, and giving women a greater role in society … Women
smell freedom at Change Square where they feel more welcomed than
ever before. Their fellow [male] freedom fighters are showing unconven-
tional acceptance to their participation and they are actually for the first
time letting women be, and say, what they really want.”4 However, after
the end of the Arab Spring, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt started
debating what degree of rights women should gain under the new regimes.
That debate did not go well in most of these countries. An Egyptian pro-
tester told Catherine Ashton, the European Union (EU) foreign policy
supremo, during a visit to Tahrir Square: “The men were keen for me to
be here when we were demanding that Mubarak should go. But now he
has gone, they want me to go home.”5 Women in Egypt have been ignored
in decision-making processes since the revolution. For example, the
Constitutional Amendments Committee did not include any women, and
the interim government, which was formed to administer the country dur-
ing the transitional period, contained only one female minister. In 2012,
at the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt, the percent-
age of women in the House of Representatives dropped from 13 percent
at the 2010 election to 2 percent. The percentage changed after Mohamed
Morsi’s government was overthrown, and increased to 15 percent elected
and appointed women representatives. In Libya, the quota for women in
parliament was dropped in 2012, resulting in the exclusion of large num-
bers of women from public decision-making and democratic political pro-
cesses. Moreover, several laws have been amended to legalize discrimination
against women, such as abolishing an old amendment that required men
to have their first wife’s consent when marrying a second woman.6 In
Tunisia, Article 28, which defined the status of women in a more reli-
giously conservative way, was proposed by the Al Nahda political party;
however, it did not pass due to massive public rejection and demonstra-
tions. On top of all that came the intrastate and civil wars, which made
women’s standard of living much worse than before the Arab Spring in
Yemen, Libya, and Syria. In both Syria and Yemen, women have been
displaced with their children and have left their men, most of whom are
either engaged in fighting or prevented from leaving conflict zones. The
 INTRODUCTION 3

women have been struggling with poverty and exposed to exploitation,

trafficking, and early and forced marriage.
The debate over women’s rights after the end of those wars is still
ongoing. Despite the absence of many international organizations that
promote and monitor gender equality in Libya, Syria, and Yemen, political
activists, members of civil societies, and academic scholars continue to
study females’ previous and current status, and keep trying to contribute
positively to shaping the future of women’s social, political, and economic
roles in these countries. Some of these activists argue that “Islam is the
solution,” while others believe that “Secularism is the solution.” There is
also a third group that advocates for more economic development and
modernization as a solution to women’s gender inequality. Each group
shows some evidence that supports its claim and provides excuses for the
failure of some regimes that claim to be implementing Sharia7 or secular-
ism. Turkey has been used as a good example for both those who argue for
Islam and those who espouse secularism. These groups look at Turkey
through different lenses. For example, the supporters of secularism look at
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s period and consider it a successful one that con-
tributed positively in establishing Turkey as a secular society. However,
Islamists look at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s early period and see a good
example of the ability of Islamists to run a country successfully. Yet the
political instability through which Turkey has been going since 2016 has
made many scholars and observers question whether it is a model for
either group.
This book contributes to that debate and shows that the slogans “Islam
is the solution” and “Secularism is the solution” are both overstated.
“Islam is the solution” does not seem to be the success that its advocates
claim, at least in the case of educational gender equality. The book shows
that both Muslim and non-Muslim religiously conservative societies edu-
cate girls less than boys. It also confirms previous literature and shows that
Muslim countries do indeed educate females less than males compared to
non-Muslim countries. This does not prove that “Secularism is the solu-
tion,” however, it only suggests that there is a negative association between
religion and educational gender equity. The more religious the country,
the more educational gender inequality it has. This book does not recom-
mend abandoning religion as a solution to gender inequality, it only sug-
gests that liberalizing constitutions could be one way to improve
educational gender equality. However, the positive effect of the change in
the level of religious conservativeness toward being less conservative is
4 S. A. AL-KOHLANI

neither strong nor linear. Becoming a secular country by forcing people to

abandon their religion is a very difficult mission. Governments can oppress
and ban people from practicing their beliefs, but the success of such poli-
cies is not guaranteed. Several societies used to be religious, then became
secular, then went back to being religious. An example is those countries
that used to be communist or ruled by liberal rulers such as the Shah in
Iran, Atatürk in Turkey, and the monarchic regime in Egypt. Abandoning
some negative practices of traditional societies and moving from being a
very conservative society to one that is less conservative should not come
by force; it should be achieved gradually and with respect of citizens’ free-
dom of choice.
Due to the difficulties of changing people’s religious beliefs and
enforcing laws that contradict those beliefs, as well as the weak reward
that emerges from that, this book offers another way to reduce educa-
tional gender inequality. Modernizing society is not any easier than
oppressing people’s religious beliefs, but it is more effective and it hap-
pens gradually, so people do not notice it to resist it. Modernization is a
combination of several socioeconomic factors that help change lifestyles.
Changing the environment in which people live forces them to adopt
new values that work better in the new environment. Living in a modern
society allows people to freely think about what is right and wrong and
what is suitable to their lives. The literature has already proved that peo-
ple who live in modern societies usually abandon many of their tradi-
tional and religious beliefs that conflict with their surroundings.8
However, the positive effect of moderation requires either some reli-
gious liberty or at least a different religious way of interpreting women’s
right to access education. Educational gender equality seems to be high
in countries that are religiously liberal and modern, such as Jordan and
Lebanon, but low in countries that are religiously conservative and not
modern, such as Yemen and Mauritania. Countries that are not highly
modernized but religiously liberal, such as Algeria and Bangladesh, also
have a high or average rate of educational gender equality. However,
countries that are modern but religiously conservative have educational
gender equality that is less than average, such as in Qatar and the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). There are, of course, exceptions to
some of these cases. For example, Iran is a religious country that is not
as modernized as many other countries in the region, but it has higher
gender equality. Gambia is not very urbanized, but is secular9; however,
its educational gender equality is low.
 INTRODUCTION 5

Knowing the main elements that significantly contribute to moderniza-

tion is very tricky. Scholars have used several indicators to capture what we
call modernization. Some have employed urbanization, education,
national gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita, low mortality
rate, and different indicators of gender equality, such as the percentage of
women in the parliament or labor force. Nevertheless, the most common
variable that has been used to measure modernization is urbanization. The
reason urbanization is arguably the best indicator is because minor eco-
nomic development could be enough to give people the incentive to move
to where they might have a chance of a better life. Moving to urban areas
forces people to improve their knowledge and skills. This would have a
positive reflection in many aspects of the individual’s standard of living
and the country’s economic development. Yet, although this variable
seems to be a good indicator of modernization, sometimes it can be
imprecise if it is used without controlling for density, or is applied to mea-
sure change in some cultural factors that are not relevant to the research.
For example, sudden economic development due to the discovery of a
natural resource helps a country increase its percentage of urban areas, but
that change will not be followed by a sudden shift in citizens’ culture and
values. In this case, using urbanization as a measure of modernization to
study the change in culture might be an inaccurate approach.
This book illustrates that an increase in urbanization has a significant
positive effect on increasing educational gender equality in non-Muslim
countries, regardless of whether they are religiously conservative or liberal.
Also, in non-Muslim countries, the positive impact of urbanization is
higher than the positive impact of moving from being a conservative to a
less religiously conservative society. In fact, going to extremes by declaring
a secular system has a negative impact on educational gender equality in
non-Muslim countries. However, in Muslim countries the situation is
more complex. Urbanization there seems to have a positive impact on
educational gender equality, but not a significant one, unless the country
is not religiously conservative. For example, unlike the situation in Saudi
Araba or Yemen, an increase in the percentage of urbanization in any of
the liberal Muslim countries, such as Jordan, Lebanon, or Indonesia,
would have a positive effect on educational gender equality. In contrast to
non-Muslim countries, having a secular political system in Muslim coun-
tries helps significantly in improving educational gender equality.
Reducing the fertility rate seems to have a stronger positive effect on
increasing educational gender equality in both Muslim and non-Muslim
6 S. A. AL-KOHLANI

countries than increasing urbanization or liberalizing the constitution.

This can be explained by the ability of this variable to account for eco-
nomic development and cultural change. Both the common perception
and the statistical empirical evidence indicate that an increase in income
causes an increase in education, and that educated parents have fewer chil-
dren. However, in traditional religious societies, an increase in income
does not necessarily lead to a significant increase in females’ education,10
for instance in most Arabian Gulf oil-producing countries, since the main
role of women in traditional societies is as a wife and mother. If money,
schools, and transportation are available, a girl is likely to go to school
until she gets married. Nevertheless, her chance of dropping out of school
and getting married at an early age is high in religious societies, regardless
of whether those societies are modern or traditional. Traditional religious
societies tend to have a high birth rate compared to modern societies,
because women in traditional societies get married early and are encour-
aged by many religions, including Islam, to have a large number of chil-
dren.11 Children in traditional societies represent wealth, since they are
expected to help inside and outside the home. Girls who get married early
are very likely to drop out of school at an early age as well. Traditional
societies do not have many nurseries, and putting children in daycare is
negatively associated with neglect. So a mother is expected to raise her
children by herself or with some help from family members, but not from
a stranger. Also, since nurseries and kindergartens are not subsidized by
the government, they are considered very expensive for many families in
traditional societies. A decrease in the birth rate indicates that people’s
priorities have changed. Women are no longer looked at only as wives and
mothers; instead, they are expected to have a social and economic role, to
participate economically inside and outside the home. So education
becomes an obligation rather than a luxury. Therefore, when studying
gender equality, scholars should use both the decrease in the fertility rate
and the increase in urbanization to provide a better measure of modern-
ization. I use urbanization because it is a better measure of economic
development than GDP and other wealth measurements, and I use the
decline in the fertility rate since it is a good measure of the effect of eco-
nomic development on women’s role in society.
A decrease in the fertility rate could happen due to other reasons than
economic development. A low fertility rate used to occur in both tradi-
tional and modern societies. Very old traditional societies used to experi-
ence a low rate of fertility due to the lack of basic health awareness,
 INTRODUCTION 7

vaccines, medicines, and health facilities. However, after the discovery of

vaccines and other medical therapies, this problem hardly exists nowadays,
even in traditional societies. In fact, currently traditional societies are asso-
ciated with high fertility rates due to the improvement in the health sector
worldwide. The increase in the fertility rate in traditional societies was not
only due to improvements in health, but also because traditional societies
prefer having more children for several social, economic, and religious
reasons. Traditional societies still link masculinity and femininity to having
a high number of children. Society regards those who are incapable of hav-
ing children as inferior. Also, since traditional societies usually depend on
agriculture, these societies tend to encourage having many children. Large
numbers of children are also valued by many religious societies, such as
those that follow Islam, Catholicism, and Hinduism. For example, Islam
encourages having many children and that is supported by a text from the
Holy Qur’an that says “wealth and children are [but] adornment of
worldly life.”12 The Catholic Church is also supportive of having children
and against the use of contraceptives and abortion. In AD 195, Clement
of Alexandria wrote: “because of its divine institution for the propagation
of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor
is it to be wasted.”13 Hinduism also believes that children are a gift from
God and rewards for previous actions or karma: “through a son one con-
quers the worlds, through a grandson one obtains immortality; and
through the son’s grandson one scends to the highest heaven.”14 Yet mod-
ernization diminishes the need to have lots of children, since doing so
becomes a burden rather than helpful. The age of getting married increases
because of the increase in the cost of marriage. The modern lifestyle forces
people to have fewer children because of the high cost of living and the
high demands of society. Also, the materialistic life in urban areas changes
people’s religious views.15 Therefore, a decline in the fertility rate is a good
sign of modernization. This book shows that a decrease in the fertility rate
has a stronger positive effect on educational gender equality than any
other religious or modernization variable.
In sum, the purpose of this book is to help feminists and political activ-
ists, as well as young governments and Muslim countries that escaped the
Arab Spring, to determine the best approach to increase educational gen-
der equality. It does not intend to measure the rights of women and gen-
der equality in general, although knowing the level of females’ school
enrollment provides a good idea of where gender equality is heading. It
also provides a good idea of females’—direct and indirect—contribution
8 S. A. AL-KOHLANI

to the economy, since the literature has already confirmed the positive
association between female education and economic growth.16 The other
goal of this book is to provide a new way of studying the effect of religions
on educational gender equity. It provides an index that differentiates
between the levels of conservativeness within each religion. This method
offers a better understanding of the influence of religion on the educa-
tional gender gap. The book aims to answer several questions with regard
to gender equality in education. For example, would the dominance of a
religiously conservative constitution result in weak gender equality in edu-
cation? Would having a less religiously conservative constitution help
increase gender equality in education in both Muslim and non-Muslim
countries? Do Muslim countries have higher gender inequality in educa-
tion than non-Muslim countries? Also, does modernization, as reflected
by urbanization, change the impact of a religiously conservative constitu-
tion on gender equality in education?

Gender Equality Before the Arab Spring

In today’s world, improving the status of women is still one of the main
challenges that the international community is struggling to meet. The
United Nations’ (UN) report for 2010, The World’s Women: Trends and
Statistics, demonstrates slow and uneven progress in many aspects of
women’s contemporary life, such as health, education, work, power and
decision-making, and rates of women exposed to violence. For instance,
the last 20 years have shown an improvement in female life expectancy.
Women now live longer than men in all regions; however, in developing
countries, pregnancy and childbirth are still life-threatening and tend to
equalize life expectancy between the sexes. Women also still count for the
majority of HIV-positive adults in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and
the Middle East.17 They are exposed to sexual, psychological, and eco-
nomic violence in all regions of the world. Physical abuse by the male
partner is the most common type of abuse, since many societies consider
beating a woman acceptable if she does not obey her husband.18
When it comes to gender disparities, particularly in education, despite
the 10 percent decline in the number of illiterate women since 1990, it is
estimated that 66 percent of adult illiterates are still women, and most of
these women are concentrated in Africa and South-Central and Western
Asia. This proportion has not changed for the last 20 years and it is likely
to remain high due to population growth. In addition, although
 INTRODUCTION 9

­ easurable progress has been made toward diminishing the gender gap in
m
primary enrollment in most regions, 54 percent of the world’s 72 million
children of primary school age who are not attending school are girls.
The available data also indicate that 38 countries still show gender dis-
parities at elementary level in favor of boys, with the highest rate, 61
percent, in the Arab states, mostly concentrated in Egypt, Iraq, and
Yemen. Progress in secondary enrollment lags behind that in primary
education. In 2007, 42 countries out of 144 had less than 50 percent of
girls in the official secondary school age group attending secondary
school. Unlike elementary and secondary level, enrollment in tertiary
education has expanded worldwide and men’s dominance in tertiary edu-
cation has been reversed. Currently, gender disparities in tertiary educa-
tion are in favor of women, except in sub-Saharan Africa, and Southern
and Western Asia. For instance, female tertiary enrollment is still below
40 percent in several countries, such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq,
Nepal, Bhutan, and Yemen; and is less than 20 percent in Gambia and
Benin, Chad, Congo, Guinea-Bissau, and Eritrea. This is a combination
of Muslim and non-Muslim countries.
An improvement in women’s education should precede an improve-
ment in women’s participation in the work force; however, female partici-
pation in the labor force is still significantly low, especially in Northern
Africa and Western Asia. In 2010, women’s labor force participation rate
in Northern Africa and Western Asia remained below 30 percent, and in
Southern Asia it was below 40 percent.19 In addition, in less developed
countries, such as in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, the agriculture
sector still accounts for more than half of the employment of both sexes;
yet the majority are women. Furthermore, women in general are still rarely
employed in jobs with status, power, and authority, being significantly
“underrepresented among legislators, senior officials and managers, craft
and related trade workers, and plant and machine operators and assem-
blers; they are heavily overrepresented among clerks, service and sales
workers.”20 Women also still bear most of the responsibilities for the home,
and spend at least twice as much time as men on unpaid domestic jobs
such as caring for children and elderly parents, preparing meals, and doing
other housework. The world furthermore lacks gender balance in decision-­
making positions. Female representation in national parliamentary seats
remains below 17 percent, they are only 7 of 150 elected heads of state in
the world, and 11 of 192 heads of government are women. Generally,
women’s status has improved and gender inequality has declined over the
10 S. A. AL-KOHLANI

past 20 years, but many things remain to be done in order for women to
reach a better standard of living.

Historical Background
Women have arrived at their current status partly due to over a century of
continual effort by many scholars who study and advocate for gender
equality. These studies are meant to help evaluate the progress toward
achieving equal human rights and understanding the reasons behind the
weak progress in some societies. The majority of these studies are referred
to as “feminism studies.” Feminism studies share some common goals,
such as trying to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, per-
sonal, and social rights for women. Some of these studies emphasize the
importance of achieving equal rights with men, while other studies demand
rights within a religious frame. The accomplishment of feminist move-
ments and studies varies depending on the topic and the culture of the
society. In general, we can say that to a certain extent, gender equality has
been partially achieved in many Western countries, but not to the same
extent in the rest of the world.
Some Western countries like Finland, Sweden, and Denmark are exam-
ples of societies where women enjoy a high level of parliamentary repre-
sentation, and where the gender gap has been closed in secondary
schooling, pay, and extensive parental rights and childcare facilities. Other
Western countries, such as Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Spain, and Italy, have a
much less impressive record on equal pay and positions of power and
decision-­making.21 The poverty gap between men and women in those
countries is still high as well. In general, most of post-Communist Europe
has achieved educational gender equality, but is still behind other Western
countries in marriage and divorce policies, paid parental leave, affordable
childcare services, equal work opportunities, and political rights. For
instance, countries that have joined the EU, such as Hungary, Lithuania,
and Slovenia, have passed new legislation regarding equal opportunities
and the general prohibition of discrimination and sexual harassment to
improve gender equality and comply with EU standards, but these laws
sometimes lack some important aspects, such as referring to equal work
payments.22 For example, they do not provide a clear definition of some
important terms, such as discrimination, equal gender rights, or sexual
harassment. The same situation applies in South America, where several
countries already have high female political participation, but gender
 INTRODUCTION 11

equality in education and marriage rights still need major improvement.

The progress on gender equity in most Western countries is arguably con-
siderable due to their secular political system and modernization.
Like most Western countries, the majority of Eastern countries are sec-
ular, but they are not as modernized as their Western counterparts.
Therefore, the progress in gender equality is not as widespread and signifi-
cant as in Western countries. For example, South Korea has made great
progress in nearly all aspects of human rights, but other countries such as
Afghanistan are still behind the rest of the world in several aspects, such as
education, access to the labor force, and women’s freedom of movement
in public without a male companion. Many other countries, such as
Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, also lag behind in several
aspects of women’s rights. However, the majority of Eastern countries
have already achieved some of the feminists’ goals, such as increasing
females’ political participation. For example, in Bangladesh and Pakistan,
two women managed to become heads of state, although these two coun-
tries remain behind the rest of the world in educational gender equality
and other aspects of human rights. Other countries, such as Iran, have
already achieved educational gender equality, but are nevertheless very far
from achieving political gender equality. The failure to make a significant
improvement in all major human rights aspects can also be referred to the
influence of religion and a lack of modernization.
These modest achievements in improving gender equality in the last
few decades were the result of a worldwide effort. The international com-
munity’s attempts to spread awareness of the importance of integrating
women into development started in 1967. The UN General Assembly
issued the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women (DEDAW), which outlined the UN’s view on women’s rights. It
paved the way for the 1968 UN International Conference on Human
Rights, an important precursor to a legally binding document for mem-
bers of the international community. It also led to the establishment of the
UN Decade for Women in 1975, and the signing of the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women during the
Second World Conference on Women in Copenhagen in 1980. The
Decade for Women provided a forum for women’s voices and placed
women’s problems in the international arena. It gave women the oppor-
tunity to share their experience of oppression, to network, and to strate-
gize globally. Bedsides the Second World Conference, the UN Decade was
followed by several international conferences, such as the Third World
12 S. A. AL-KOHLANI

Conference on Women in Nairobi in 1985 and the Vienna World

Conference in 1993, which emphasized the importance of supporting and
protecting women’s rights. The Vienna World Conference is considered
the largest gathering in human rights history, and was attended by 7000
participants, including representatives of 171 nations and 800 non-­
governmental organizations (NGOs). This conference was followed by
another in 1994, the Cairo International Conference on Population and
Development, which stressed the importance of investing in women’s
health and empowerment as a key to improving gender equality. In 1995,
the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women reviewed the accom-
plishments of the previous two decades and adopted a new platform aimed
at achieving greater equality and opportunity for women. It led to the
Decade for Human Rights Education from 1995 to 2004, followed by the
UN Literacy Decade: Education for All, which started in 2003 and ended
in 2012. In 2014, the UN reviewed the progress of the Cairo Program of
Action and came up with a new Program of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) beyond 2014. This
emphasized the importance of equality, women’s health, and the human
rights of all people. It warned of the negative impact on development of
ignoring these issues.23 All these events contributed significantly to
improving women’s status in many aspects, but the results varied from one
country to another and from one aspect to another, depending on the
country’s political regime and sociocultural norms. Trying to do a cross-­
sectional time series study of gender equality in general is challenging;
therefore, in this book I focus on only one of the critical elements of
human rights, females’ right to be educated.

Western Feminist Theories

The first time the feminist movement was publicly discussed was in 1942
by Katherine Hepburn in a film named Woman of the Year; however, the
term feminism did not gain widespread popularity until the 1970s. It is
normally used to describe the political, cultural, and economic movements
that aim to establish equal gender rights and legal protection for women.
The history of feminism can be divided into three waves. The first wave of
feminism started in Europe and the United States and was in the nine-
teenth and early twentieth centuries, which was before the term feminism
even started to be used. A “true woman” at that time was expected to stay
at home and meet the needs of her husband and children. She was
 INTRODUCTION 13

c­ onsidered biologically weak, since she was seen as having a small brain
and a fragile physique. Women were required to be modest and not to
engage in public activities. Those who spoke in public were considered to
be displaying masculine behavior. In this wave, liberal women did not
challenge the concept of differences between genders; on the contrary,
they accepted that they have a natural disposition toward maternity and
domesticity. Yet, they demanded that women and men were, at least in
legal terms, equal in all respects. The movement focused on females’ right
to equal contract and property rights, as well as women’s right to vote.
These women strongly believed that denying them their right to vote was
akin to denying them full citizenship. They argued that there is no differ-
ence between men and women that disqualifies women from voting. In
fact, they argued that allowing women to vote would help them perform
their roles as mothers and housewives even better. They argued that
because of the difference between men and women, they needed represen-
tatives in the political arena who understood their needs.24 Besides the
liberal first-wave feminism, there was socialist/Marxist feminism, which
shared liberals’ demand for justice and equal opportunities for women and
men. However, socialist/Marxist feminism focused more on the class
struggle and working-­class women. Marxist feminists look at men as the
“class of ‘oppressors’ and of women as the ‘oppressed’” … Like Marxists,
these feminists “have adopted the technique of ‘consciousness raising’ to
reveal the true nature of ‘oppression’ (that is, “the patriarchy”): a ‘super-
structure’ of lies perpetuated by those in power (men).”25 They believe in
the term “women’s collective,” which refers to the idea that all women
have at least some characteristics in common, so, despite diversity among
the different forms of feminism, they must focus on group rights and cam-
paign for women’s rights and power. Marxist feminists “hope to bring in
a new world order, a new age, a new paradise (often under the aegis of a
great goddess).”26
The second wave was in the 1960s and 1970s, and was concerned with
legal and social rights for women, such as their right to abortion and
divorce. The second wave was a combination of radical and socialist/
Marxist feminist movements. These women condemned the world’s inter-
est in women’s appearance more than what they do or think. They argued
against the dual workload for women inside and outside the home. They
demanded equal payment for equal work, and eliminating the gendered
division of the educational system and the labor market. The women par-
ticipated in movements that criticized “capitalism” and “imperialism,”
14 S. A. AL-KOHLANI

protested against the Vietnam War, and supported “oppressed” groups,

such as the working class, black people, and homosexuals. Some of the
second-wave movements demonstrated that the liberation of women
would occur only with the destruction of capitalism and transformation
into a socialist society instead. They insisted that women would never be
freed from dependency on men and the family if they were not involved in
“productive” labor. However, the radical movements focused more on the
criticism of “sex roles” and the “beauty myth.” Despite the major ideo-
logical differences between second-wave movements, all these women
called for sisterhood and solidarity. They invested in slogans that empha-
sized women’s unity, such as “Woman’s struggle is class struggle” and
“The personal is political.”27
The third wave extends from the 1990s to the present. It challenges the
second wave, which mostly represented the experience of upper-middle-­
class white women, and criticizes earlier waves of feminism for presenting
a universal solution or definition of womanhood and for associating them-
selves with a particular political identity. This is an internal debate between
different feminists: those who believe in differences between the sexes,
and those who believe that there is no inherent difference between men
and women and that the difference in gender roles is only due to the soci-
etal culture. They try to avoid thinking in categories, which divide people
into “us” and “them,” or see themselves as inhabiting particular identities,
such as women or feminists. They are attempting to redefine feminism and
study traditional and stereotypically feminine issues, such as sexist lan-
guage. The “New Feminism,” which refers to the third wave, is also con-
cerned with issues relevant to globalization and investigates areas such “as
violence against women, trafficking, body surgery, self-mutilation, and the
overall ‘pornofication’ of the media.”28 Third-wave feminism is a turning
point in the history of feminism, since it represents a movement “away
from thinking and acting in terms of systems, structures, fixed power rela-
tions, and thereby also ‘suppression’—toward highlighting the complexi-
ties, contingencies, and challenges of power and the diverse means and
goals of agency.”29 All the previous feminist waves have reached many
countries in the world and left some impact, such as in Europe and some
countries in the Middle East and North Africa and Asia. These waves also
led to the emergence of feminist theories that have manifested in a variety
of disciplines.
Contemporary Western feminist theories can be divided into radical,
liberal, and social. All these theories study the reason behind women’s
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 CHAPTER III.

VARIOUS MATERIALS USED IN COACH-

BUILDING.
The materials employed in coach-building number a great many:
various kinds of wood—ash, beech, elm, oak, mahogany, cedar,
deal, pine, &c.; hides, skins, hair, wool, silk, glue, whalebone, ivory,
&c.; iron, steel, copper, brass, lead, tin, glass, &c.
The timber principally used in the construction of carriages is the
ash. This is not an elastic, but rather a tough and fibrous wood,
capable of altering its form by the application of pressure, and
therefore when not in large masses requires iron plates to secure it.
By boiling it becomes very pliable, and may be formed into almost
any shape, provided that it is not too thick. For this purpose it is
better to use steam than boiling water, as the latter is likely to
dissolve and carry off the gluten which unites the fibres, thus
rendering the timber useless. Some ash timber is white at heart, and
some red; the white is usually the strongest and best. Some trees
which have been grown on hillsides much exposed to constant winds
present a remarkably wrinkled appearance through their whole
length, and it is scarcely possible to plane their timber smooth; this is
the toughest of all ash timber. Parts of ash-trees are sometimes
found of a yellowish-brown colour, accompanied by a fetid acid
smell. This is sometimes attributed to the effect of lightning, but more
probably it is a putrid fermentation of the sap, owing to imperfect
drying. All other circumstances being equal, the timber is best which
is cut down when the circulation of the sap is slowest, as the pores
are then open. In the process of drying or seasoning the bulk
diminishes considerably. One of the qualities which render ash
peculiarly fit for carriage construction is the absence of elasticity, and
consequent indisposition to alter its form by warping or twisting. It is
not well adapted for boards or planks in which much width is
required, as in drying it cracks a great deal. The diameter of ash-
trees used by carriage-builders varies from 1 foot to 3 feet 6 inches.
It should be borne in mind in cutting ash, that the interior and the
outer casing under the bark are rather softer and less durable than
the parts between them.
Beech is sometimes used by carriage-builders and by
wheelwrights, on account of its cheapness; but it is very liable to
warp and rot, and consequently unworthy of the attention of the
conscientious manufacturer.
Elm is largely used for planking where strength is required. The
grain is wavy, hard to work, brittle, and apt to split without care. It is
not a good surface to paint on, as the grain shows through several
coats of colour. It is also used for the naves or stocks of wheels.
Oak is used for the spokes of wheels. The best kinds are made
from the timbers of saplings, which are not sawn but cleft, in order
that the grain may be not cut across and render the spoke unfit to
resist the strains it will be subject to. Spokes are also made from the
limbs of large trees.
Mahogany is largely used for panels, as when painted it shows a
very even surface. There are two kinds, the “Spanish” and the
“Honduras.” The former is unfit for the purposes of the carriage-
builder. It is heavy and very difficult to work, requiring special tools
for this purpose, as the edges of ordinary tools are rapidly destroyed
by it. The Honduras is very much lighter and cheaper than Spanish,
and the grain and colour more even. It takes the sweeps and curves
required for body-work very easily. It can be procured up to 4 feet in
width, straight-grained, and free from knots and blemishes.
A coarse-grained species of cedar is brought from the same
district as Honduras mahogany, and is sometimes used for panels
which have to be covered with leather, &c. Its extreme porosity
renders it unfit for the application of paint.
 Deal is largely used for the flooring of carriages, and for covered
panels, and for any rough work that is not exposed to great wear and
tear.
The wide American pine is chiefly used in very thin boards to form
the covered panels and roofing of carriages.
Lancewood is a straight-grained, elastic wood, but very brittle
when its limit of elasticity is reached. It comes from the West Indies
in taper poles about 20 feet long and 6 or 8 inches diameter at the
largest end. It was formerly much used for shafts, but since curved
forms have been fashionable it has fallen into disuse. It can be bent
by boiling, but is a very unsafe material to trust to such an important
office as the shafts.
American birch is a very valuable wood for flat boarding, as it can
be procured up to 3 feet in width. It is of a perfectly homogeneous
substance, free from rents, and with scarcely a perceptible pore. It
works easily with the plane and yields a very smooth surface, and
the grain does not show through the most delicate coat of paint. Its
chief disadvantage is its brittleness, which will not permit of its being
used for any but plane surfaces, and some care is required in nailing
and screwing it.
Hides are used chiefly for coverings, but also in some parts strips
are used for the purposes of suspension. The hides are those of
horses and neat cattle. For covering they are converted into leather
by the action of oak and other bark. They are afterwards smoothed
and levelled by the currier, and sometimes split into two equal
thicknesses by machinery. They are then rendered pliable by the
action of oil and tallow, and finished to a clear black or brown colour
as may be required. This is called dressed leather. For some
purposes the hides are merely levelled, put on wet to the object they
are intended to cover, and left to shrink and dry. Others are covered
with a coat of elastic japan, which gives them a highly glazed
surface, impermeable to water; in this state they are called patent
leather. In a more perfectly elastic mode of japanning, which will
permit folding without cracking the surface, they are called
enamelled leather. They are generally black, but any colour desired
may be given to them. All this japanned leather has the japan
annealed, somewhat in the same mode as glass. The hides are laid
between blankets, and are subjected to the heat of an oven raised to
the proper temperature during several hours.
The skins used are those of the sheep and goat. The former are
converted into leather by the action of oak bark. In one form of
dressing them they are known as basil leather, which is of a light
brown colour and very soft. Sometimes they are blacked, and
occasionally japanned like the hides. In all these forms sheep skins
are only used for inferior purposes, as mere coverings, where no
strength is required.
Goat skins are used in the preparation of the leather known as
“Spanish” and “Morocco.” They are not tanned in oak bark like other
leather, but very slightly in the bark of the sumach-tree. They pass
through many processes previous to that of dyeing, for which
purpose they are sewn up with the grain outwards and blown out like
a bladder. This is to prevent the dye from getting access to the flesh
side. This beautiful leather was originally manufactured by the
Moors, who afterwards introduced the process into Spain, by which
means it came to be known under two names. The English have
greatly improved on the manufacture, so much so that few others
can vie with it. These skins are used for the inside linings of
carriages.
Hair is used as an article of stuffing. To give it the peculiar curl
which renders it elastic, it is forcibly twisted up in small locks, and in
that state baked in an oven to fix it. Horse-hair is the best, being the
strongest and longest; but various other kinds are used. Sometimes
it is adulterated with fibres of whalebone. Doe-hair is also much used
as an article for stuffing, but as it is very short it cannot be curled,
and there is not much elasticity in it.
Wool in its natural state is not used for carriage purposes. In the
form of “flocks,” which are the short combings and fibres produced in
the process of manufacturing it, it is very largely used for stuffing. In
its manufactured state wool is used in great quantities, as cloth, lace,
fringe, carpeting, &c.
 The iron used is that known as wrought iron. To judge of its quality
break a piece over the anvil; if it breaks off brittle it is of no use for
the purposes it is required for. If it is good wrought iron the fracture
will present a bluish, fibrous, silky texture, without any crystalline
portions. Inferior iron will either appear bright and glistening (when it
partakes of the properties of cast iron) or dull and greyish in tone at
the fracture.
It may also be tested by bringing it to a red heat and bending it,
when any flaws, &c., will at once become apparent.
Cast iron is also used in the shape of axle-boxes.
Great quantities of wrought iron are used in the construction of
modern carriages. One of the best qualities is that known as the
“King and Queen,” so called from its brand. This iron is
manufactured from pieces of old iron, called scrap iron, which are
placed in furnaces and welded under a heavy tilt-hammer, after
which it is passed between rollers and converted into bars.
Steel also enters largely into carriage construction in the shape of
springs, &c. Axles are made of Bessemer steel, and are found to
wear very well. Steel consists of iron in which is combined a large
proportion of carbon; the more carbon the higher the elasticity of the
steel. If steel is over-heated, it gives up a portion of its carbon and
approaches once again its original form of iron.
 CHAPTER IV.

POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED BEFORE

COMMENCING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A
CARRIAGE.—COMPONENT PARTS OF THE
BODY.—SMITH’S WORK.—GLUE.
As previously remarked the vehicle is divided into two parts—the
carriage and the body. After the drawing or draught is carefully
worked out to full-size on the black-board in the shop, with all the
curves and sweeps developed, and shown in elevation and plan,
patterns or templates are made from the draught, and from these the
construction of the body proceeds.
In commencing the construction of a vehicle there are several
things to be borne in mind; such as the purpose to which the vehicle
is to be applied, the size of horses to draw it, and other
considerations arising from these two. It is popularly believed that
the shorter the carriage the lighter it will run; in ascending an incline
this may be true, but on ordinary level ground a long carriage and
short one must be alike in friction, provided the total amount of
weight and other circumstances be equally balanced.
Another consideration is the height of the wheels. On level ground,
draught is easiest when the centre of the wheel is a little lower than
the point of draught, viz. the point where the traces are affixed to the
collar; but this in practice would be found rather inconvenient, as
very high wheels would be required, and consequently the height of
the whole vehicle would have to be increased, causing great trouble
and annoyance in getting in and out of the vehicle, and the driver’s
seat would have to be raised to a corresponding height. Under equal
circumstances a high wheel is more efficient than a low one, and
requires less power to draw it; though it may be mentioned that a low
wheel on a good and level road will do its work far better than a very
much higher wheel on a rougher road. The sizes of the wheels of
two-wheeled vehicles vary from 3 feet to 4 feet 6 inches.
It would be a very good thing if four-wheeled vehicles were to have
the wheels of equal size, in order that the friction and power might be
equal. But with the present mode of construction this is an
impossibility, as we have only one mode of making the lock or turn.
Therefore the height of the fore wheels must be regulated by the
height at which the body hangs, so that the wheels may pass
beneath it without striking, when the springs play. In practice this
height varies from 2 feet to 3 feet 8 inches, according to the kind of
carriage the wheels are intended for. The hind wheels vary from 3
feet to 4 feet 8 inches.
The next point is the dishing of the wheel, which is necessary for
strength to take the strain off the nuts, to throw off the mud and
prevent it clogging either the wheel or the body, and to give greater
room for the body between the wheels without increasing the track
on the ground. Whatever be the amount of dishing or coning, which
varies from 1½ to 2½ inches, one rule should always be observed,
viz. so to form the wheel that when running the lower spokes should
maintain a true vertical position both in the fore and hind wheels.
This is mainly accomplished by the dip of the axle, but if the fore and
hind wheels have the same dish, they will take the same track along
the ground. The dish of a wheel will be understood by referring to
Fig. 10, in which it will be seen that the extremities of the spokes are
not in the same plane, thus forming a dish or hollow in the surface of
the wheel.
Some ingenious persons have deduced from the foregoing that a
wheel runs best on an axle having a conical arm (the arm is the
extremity of the axle which fits into an axle-box in the nave or stock
of the wheel), in which case the axle would not dip, but the wheel
would be put on to a perfectly horizontal axle. The motion of a wheel
thus placed would be anything but artistic, though there would not be
so much friction on an arm of this sort as on an arm of the dipped
axle. Dipping the axle is shown at Fig. 10. It merely consists in
bending it so far out of the horizontal as to give the lower spokes a
vertical position. But in practice this theory of the conical arm will not
answer, inasmuch as curving the arm will reduce the front bearing
surface so much that the oil would be squeezed out, and it would run
dry, and the total amount of friction would be greatly increased. Long
practice has shown that a cylindrical or slightly conical arm is the
best that can be used.

Fig. 10.
We have now to settle the form, combination, and proportion of the
springs. Springs which are laid on the axle at right angles have to
carry the whole of the weight of the carriage, save only the wheels
and axles. Where other springs are used in addition it is not
necessary that the axle-springs should have much play. It will be
sufficient to give them just so much play as will intercept the
concussion caused by moving over a road. The strength of the
springs must of course be adjusted to the weight they have to carry,
for it is evident that if they be made sufficiently elastic to carry the
weight of six persons, they will be found hard if only three enter the
carriage. This is a disadvantage all carriages must labour under, for
it is ridiculous to suppose that if a carriage is constructed to hold six
that number will always want to use it at the same time. There would
seem to be room for some improvement in the way of introducing
springs adjustable to any weight, though, to give spring-makers their
due, they do turn out really a first-class article in this respect; this is
more noticeable because it is so recent. Light carriages are never so
easy to ride as heavy ones, even when the springs are well adjusted,
because on meeting with an obstacle there is not a sufficient
resistance to the bound or jerk upwards of the spring, which makes
riding in a light carriage over a rough road rather unpleasant.
The position of the front wheels next demands attention. As these
have to turn under the body it requires some skill to fix them, and the
play of the springs, the height of the axletree, and the height of the
arch (the portion of the body under which they turn) have all to be
considered. This will be more particularly described when dealing
with wheel-plates.
The rule for the height of the splinter-bar, to which the traces or
shafts are fixed, is that it should fall on a line drawn from the horse’s
shoulder to the centre of the hind wheel. This, however, is not always
convenient in practice, as the fore wheels regulate the height of the
framing of the under carriage, to which the splinter-bar is fixed. The
distance of the splinter-bar from the central pin, on which the wheel-
plate and fore carriage turn, is regulated by the size of the wheels
and the projection of the driving seat footboard.
All the above particulars are considered when setting out the full-
sized draught, and all points capable of delineation are put on the
board in some convenient part. In Fig. 9 the outline is simply given,
as to show everything would only confuse the reader. Such other
details as are required are filled in after the draught has reached the
stage shown in the figure.
It is most necessary for the safe conduct of a coach and carriage
builder’s business that there should be a goodly stack of well-
seasoned timber of the various kinds required, otherwise great
trouble and vexation will arise in the course of business from a good
piece of timber being perhaps spoilt in working, and there not being
another piece in the factory to replace it.
Where there is sufficient accommodation it is usual for makers to
season their own timber in specially constructed sheds, which are
kept from bad weather, but at the same time thoroughly well
ventilated. In these the timber is stacked, with small fillets between
each plank or board, to insure a free current of air circulating all
round. One year should be allowed for seasoning for every inch of
thickness in the timber, and none should be used in which this rule
has not been observed.
Thin portions of timber, such as panel stuff and the like, should be
treated in the same way, and in addition the ends should be secured
to prevent splitting. The panel stuff undergoes another process of
seasoning after it is planed up; in fact, all the thin timber required for
roofs, sides, &c., does. And about the first thing done in commencing
to build a carriage is for the body-maker to get his thin stuff ready, as
far as planing it up goes, and then to put it aside in some moderately
dry place, with slips of wood between each board to allow a
circulation of air round them. The other stuff that is likely to be
required should also be selected and put aside. If all these things be
strictly attended to, there is not likely to be much trouble about bad
joints; and it will be to the employer’s interest to look after such
workmen who have not enough scientific knowledge to see the
reason of things themselves, and put them in the right direction. But
an intelligent workman will soon appreciate the advantage of getting
his stuff ready at the commencement, instead of waiting till he wants
to use it.
The parts composing the body may be thus enumerated:—
The frame or case.
The doors.
The glasses, which are fixed in thin frames of wainscot, covered
with cloth or velvet. It is a very good thing to have india-rubber for
these to fall on, and little india-rubber buffers would prevent them
from rattling.
The blinds, which are sometimes panel, but more generally
Venetian, so adjusted with springs that the bars may stand open at
any required angle.
The curtains, of silk, which slide up and down on spring rollers.
The lining and cushions, of cloth, silk, or morocco, as the case
may be, ornamented with lace, &c. The cushions are sometimes
made elastic with small spiral springs.
The steps, which are made to fold up and fit into recesses in the
doors, or in the bottom, when they are not in use.
The lamps, which are fixed to the fore part of the body by means
of iron stays.
The boot, on which is carried the coachman’s seat.
In carriages suspended from C springs we have in addition:—
The check-brace rings, to which are attached leather braces from
the spring heads, to prevent the body from swinging too much
backwards and forwards.
The collar-brace rings, to which are attached leather braces from
the perch, to prevent the body swinging too much upwards or
sideways.
The curve or rounding given to the side of the body from end to
end is called the side-cant, and the rounding from the top to the
bottom the turn-under. Some makers arrive at this curve by framing
the skeleton of the body together with square timber, and then round
these off to the required curve after they are put together. It must be
evident to any one that this proceeding will greatly strain the joints,
and under any circumstances will never give thorough satisfaction or
good results, and the waste of time and material must be very
considerable.
The proper way is to set the curve out beforehand on a board
called the “cant” board, and the method of doing this is as follows:—
Take a clean pine board, plane it up to a smooth surface. Shoot
one edge perfectly true with a trying-plane. This straight edge may
be taken to represent the side of the carriage if it were a straight line.
Apply this edge to the full-sized draught, and mark along it the
various parts of the body (see Fig. 8, in which the numbered points
are those required to form the side-cant). By means of these points
the required sweep can be set up or drawn, as shown by the dotted
line C in the figure. Now, if you choose, you can cut away the portion
between A and B, and a template will be formed to which the
constructional timbers can be cut; and it possesses the advantage of
being easily applied to the carriage as it proceeds, to see that the
curve is true and uniform. As this template forms the pattern to which
the timber, &c., is cut, great care is requisite in forming it, so that it
shall be perfectly true.
In order to get the turn-under, the same process is gone through
on another board. This gives what is called the “standing” pillar
pattern, the standing pillar being the upright timber to which the door
is hinged.
There is no rule in particular for determining the amount of side-
cant or turn-under to be given to a vehicle, 2½ or 3 inches on each
side making the outside width of the body; 5 or 6 inches less at the
bottom than at the elbow line is a usual allowance, but this is entirely
dependent on the will or taste of the workman.
The cant-board described above is one having a “concave”
surface; but it quite as often has a convex surface, and it is just as
well to have one of each, and use the convex for cutting the timbers
to, and the concave for trying them when in place, though, if this be
done, it is imperative that the curves on the two boards should be
one and the same. The same remarks apply to the standing pillar
pattern.
The body is a species of box, fitted with doors and windows, and
lined and wadded for the purpose of comfort. As the greatest amount
of strain is put upon the bottom part, and the forces acting on the
other parts are transmitted to the bottom, it is necessary that it
should be very strongly put together. The two side bottom timbers
are bonded, or tied together, by two cross timbers called bottom
bars, which are firmly framed into them. To give depth to the floor,
without destroying the symmetry of the side, deep pieces of elm
plank are fixed to the inside of the side bottom pieces, and to these
the flooring-boards are nailed, being additionally secured by iron
strap plates, nailed or screwed beneath them. In the central portion
of the bottom sides are framed the door-posts, called standing
pillars. At the angles of the bottom framework are scarfed the corner
pillars. The cross framing pieces, which connect the pillars, are
called rails. Two of these rails stretch across the body inside, on
which the seats are formed; these are called seat rails. The doors
are framed double, to contain a hollow space for the glasses and
blinds, and they are fastened by means of a wedge lock, forced into
a groove by a lever handle. There is a window in each door and one
in front of an ordinary carriage, say a brougham. The doors are
hinged with secret or flush hinges.
Before cutting the timber to the various sizes required, patterns or
templates of all the parts are made in thin wood from the full-sized
draught; also of the various curves likely to be given to the different
parts of the body.
Before a workman could be trusted with the making of a body, he
must of course have considerably advanced in the knowledge of his
craft beyond the mere use of his tools, because the success of a
carriage depends very largely upon the individual skill of the
workman, more so than perhaps in any other trade.
The stuff is marked out from the thin patterns before mentioned by
means of chalk, and in doing so care should be taken to lay the
patterns on the timber so that the grain may run as nearly as
possible in a line with it, and thus obtaining the greatest possible
strength in the wood, which lies in the direction of the grain. Thus if
the pattern be straight, lay it down on a piece of straight-grained
timber; if the pattern sweep round, then get a piece of timber the
grain of which will follow, or nearly follow, the line of pattern.
The strongest timber that can be obtained is necessary for the
construction of the hind and front bottom sides; for the weight is
directly transmitted to these, more particularly the hind bottom sides,
where the pump-handles are fixed.
The body-maker, having marked and cut out the various pieces of
timber he will require, planes a flat side to each of them, from which
all the other sides, whether plain or curved, are formed and finished.
They are then framed and scarfed together, after which the various
grooves are formed for the panels and rebates, for the floor-boards
to fit on to. Then, if there is to be any carved or beaded work, it is
performed by the carver. Previous to being fitted in, some of the
panels have strong canvas glued firmly on their backs, and when
fitted in blocks are glued round the internal angles to give greater
security to the joints, and to fix the panels firmly in their places.
Before the upper panels are put in, the roof is nailed on, and all the
joints stuck over with glued blocks inside. The upper panels are then
put on, united at the corners, and blocked inside.
If the foreman who superintends all this be a thoroughly skilful
artisan, and the men under him possess equal intelligence and skill,
the work might be distributed amongst almost as many men as there
are parts in the framework of the body. These parts will be worked
up, the mortises and tenons, the rabbets and tongues, being all cut
to specified gauges; and when they are all ready it will be found that
they go together like a Chinese puzzle.
The woodwork being completed, the currier now takes the body in
hand, and a hide of undressed leather, specially prepared for it, is
strained over the roof, the back, and the top quarters of the body
whilst in a soft pulpy state, and carefully sleeked or flattened down till
it is perfectly flat. This sleeking down is a rather tedious process, and
takes a long time and a great amount of care to bring it to a
successful issue; when it is flattened down satisfactorily, it is nailed
round the edges and left to dry, which will take several days.
Such panels as require bending may be brought to the required
sweep by wetting one side and subjecting the other to heat, as of a
small furnace.
The doors are now made and hinged, and the hollow spaces
intended to hold the glasses and blinds are covered in with thin
boards, to prevent any foreign matter from getting down into the
space, and being a source of trouble to dislodge.
In constructing the body the aid of the smith is called in. His
services are required to strengthen the parts subjected to great
strain, more particularly the timbers forming the construction of the
lower portion. All along each side of the body should be plated with
iron; this should be of the best brand and toughest quality. It is
several inches wide, and varies from ¼ to ¾ of an inch in thickness.
This is called the “edge plate,” and is really the backbone of the
body, for everything depends on its stability. It should run from one
extremity to the other, commencing at the hind bottom bar, on to
which it should be cranked, and ending at the front part of the front
boot, bottom side. This plate should take a perfectly flat bearing at
every point. Great care must be taken in fitting it, for although the
plate may be of the requisite strength the absence of this perfect
fitting will render it comparatively weak, the result of which will be
found, when the carriage is completed and mounted on the wheels,
by the springing of the sides, which will cause the pillars of the body
to press on the doors, and it will be a matter of great difficulty to
open them.
In the application of smith’s work to coach-building, it is often
necessary to fit the iron to intricate parts while it is red hot, and if due
precaution be not taken the wood becomes charred and useless,
and in cases where there are glued joints it may cause the loosening
or breaking of these joints and other material defects. It is an easy
matter to have the means at hand to get over the difficulty. All that is
necessary is to have handy some heat neutraliser. One of the
commonest things that can be used is chalk, and no smith’s shop
should ever be without it. If chalk is rubbed over the surface to which
the hot iron is to be applied it will not char or burn. Plaster of Paris is
a still more powerful heat neutraliser, and it is freer from grit. A small
quantity of the plaster mixed with water, and worked up to the proper
consistency, will be ready for use in about two hours. Many smiths
will say that they never have any accidents in applying heated iron,
but on inquiry the reason is apparent, for it will generally be found
that such men use chalk, in order to see that the iron plate takes its
proper bearings, thus inadvertently using a proper heat neutraliser. If
it were more generally known that the difficulty could be met by such
simple means, there would be less material spoilt in the smith’s
shop.
It has been very common of late years for body-makers to use
glue instead of screws and nails for panel work, &c.; but it requires a
great deal of experience for a man to use glue with successful
results. It is useless for the tyro to try it; he will only spoil the work.
So, unless the artisan be well experienced in the treatment and
application of glue, he had better leave it alone. To render the
operation successful two considerations must be taken into account.
First: To do good gluing requires that the timber should be well
seasoned and the work well fitted. Second: In preparing for gluing
use a scratch plane or rasp to form a rough surface of the pieces to
be joined together, for the same purpose that a plasterer scores over
his first coat of plaster-work, in order to give a key or hold. The shop
in which the gluing is done should be at a pretty good temperature,
and so should the material, so that the glue may flow freely. Having
the glue properly prepared, spread it upon the parts, so as to fill up
the pores and grain of the wood, and put the pieces together; then
keep the joints tight by means of iron cramps where it is possible,
and if this cannot be done the joints must be pushed tightly up, and
held till the glue is a little set and there is no fear of its giving way. All
superfluous glue will be forced out by this pressure and can be
cleaned off.
A great cause of bad gluing is using inferior glue and laying it on
too thick. Before using a new quality of glue, the body-maker should
always test it by taking, say a piece of poplar and a piece of ash, and
glue them together, and if when dry the joints give way under
leverage caused by the insertion of the chisel, the glue is not fit for
the purposes of carriage-building and should be rejected. With good
glue, like good cement, the material should rather give way than the
substance promoting adhesion. This is a very severe test, but in
putting it into practice you will be repaid by the stability of your work.

Waterproof Glue.

It is often found that joints glued together will allow water to

dissolve the glue, and thereby destroy its adhesive power. It may
have been well painted and every care taken to make it impervious
to water, but owing to its exposed position water has managed to get
in. Often where screws are put in the glue around them will be
dissolved, caused by the screws sweating; and it is very often found,
where the screws are inserted in a panel, that the glue loses its
strength and allows the joint to open, and there is little or no
appearance of glue on the wood, which shows that it has been
absorbed by the moisture.
To render ordinary glue insoluble, the water with which it is mixed
should have a little bichromate of potash dissolved in it. Chromic
acid has the property of rendering glue or gelatine insoluble. And, as
the operation of heating the glue pot is conducted in the light, no
special exposure of the pieces joined is necessary.
Glue prepared in this manner is preferable in gluing the panels on
bodies, which are liable to the action of water or damp. The strength
of the glue is not affected by the addition of the potash.
In plugging screw holes glue the edge of the plug; put no glue into
the hole. By this means the surplus glue is left on the surface, and if
the plug does not hit the screw it will seldom show.
Where brads are used the heads should be well set in; then pass
a sponge well saturated with hot water over them, filling the holes
with water. This brings the wood more to its natural position, and it
closes by degrees over the brad heads. The brad must have a
chance to expand, when exposed to the heat of the sun, without
hitting the putty stopping; if it does it will force the putty out so as to
show, by disturbing the surface, after the work is finished.
 CHAPTER V.

PARTS COMPOSING THE UNDER-CARRIAGE.

—FRAMING THEM TOGETHER.—WROUGHT-
IRON PERCHES.—BRAKES.
We have now to consider the construction of the lower framework, or
carriage.
The following is a list of the chief parts of a coach, as generally
known:—
Wheels.
Axles.
Springs.
Beds, or cross framing timbers, which are technically termed the
fore axle bed, the hind axle bed, fore spring bed or transom,
hind spring bed, and horn bar.
Perch, or central longitudinal timber connecting the axletrees.
Wings, which are spreading sides, hooped to the perch and
framed to the hind beds.
Nunters, or small framing pieces, which help to bind the hind
beds together.
Hooping-piece. A piece of timber scarped and hooped to the
fore end of the perch to secure it to the
Wheel plate, which is the circular iron beneath which the fore
carriage turns.
 The fore carriage consists of the fore axle beds, into which are
framed the
Futchells (French, fourchil, a fork), which are the longitudinal
timbers supporting the
Splinter-bar and the
Pole, to which the horses are attached.
The hinder ends of the futchells support the
Sway-bar—a circular piece of timber working beneath the
wheel-plate.
A circular piece of timber of smaller size, supported on the fore
part of the futchells for a similar purpose, is called the
Felloe-piece (often made of iron).
On the splinter-bar are fixed the
Roller bolts, for fastening the traces.
On the pole is fixed the
Pole hook, to secure the harness.
The perch and beds are strengthened with iron plates, where
necessary, and the other ironwork consists of
Splinter-bar stays, to resist the action of the draught. Formerly
these were affixed to the ends of the axles and called
“wheel-irons.”
Tread-steps, for the coachman to mount by.
Footman’s step.
Spring-stays.
On the beds are placed
Blocks, to support the

C springs; to which are attached

Jacks, or small windlasses, and
 Leathern suspension braces.
These parts fitted together would form what is generally known as
a coach, or a vehicle, the body of which is large, and suspended by
leathern braces from the ends of C springs. They enter into the
formation of all vehicles more or less, but for the other kinds some
part or parts are omitted, as in a brougham hung on elliptic springs,
the C springs, perch, leather braces, &c., would be omitted, and, of
course, elliptic springs and a pump-handle would be added. All the
woodwork is lightened as much as possible by the introduction of
beading, carving, chamfering, &c.
In starting the carriage part the workman first takes the perch and
planes a flat side to it, and then works it taper from front to back. The
top and bottom curves are then worked up, or at least some portion
of them, and then the front and hind spring beds are framed on. A
pair of spreading wings are then fitted to the sides of the perch;
these are simply circular iron stays, swelled and moulded to take off
their plainness. A pair is fitted at each end of the perch. The hind
axletree bed is then scarfed upon the top of the perch and wings,
and is connected with the hind spring bed by two small framing
pieces called nunters. At the front end of the perch a cross bed
called a horn-bar is scarfed on the perch, at the same distance from
the fore spring bed as the hind axle bed is from the hind spring bed,
viz. the length of the bearing of the spring, or about 15 inches. The
horn-bar is connected with the fore spring bed by the two spring
blocks, which are either framed into them or scarfed down on them,
and also by the hooping-piece, which is scarfed on the top of the
perch. The perch is then planed up to the curve it is to have when
finished, and it is then taken to the smith, who fits and rivets on the
side plates, which have ears at the ends for the purpose of bolting
them to the beds. The carver then does his work by beading the
perch and beds, having due regard to the finish of the parts, rounds
and curves all the ends. On the under side of the perch is riveted an
iron plate, and on this plate is an iron hook for hanging the drag shoe
and chain (if such be used). The hind framing is now put together, all
connections being by means of mortises and tenons secured by